Fallout: Firefox Browser Loses 14% of its Users in Months After CEO Ouster

The Firefox browser has lost 14% of its users in the months since they pushed out their CEO for his having donated to California’s Proposition 8 in 2008.

In early April, Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich was pressured to resign from the company that makes the Firefox browser after it was discovered he’d donated money to a political campaign to ban gay marriage in California.

The Firefox support message boards experienced record numbers of complaints against the move, with protests running 95% against it. Most of those expressing concerns said they were dumping the Firefox browser. The product was frequently referred to as “Hitler’s Browser.”

NetMarketshare, a company that tracks market share statistics for browsers and other products on the internet, indicates that Firefox has fallen from 14.47% of the total market in March 2014, to 12.44% today, wiping out 14% of Firefox’s user base.

While there’s no measurable way to link the loss of marketshare to Brendan Eich’s ouster, Firefox has never before lost this many users before. In fact, no browser has lost as many users as quickly ever before.

Mozilla maintains on their blog that Mr. Eich was not fired, nor asked to resign, and that they respect his decision to leave.

Earlier in his career, Brendan Eich created the JavaScript language, and was a co-founder of Mozilla Corporation. In 2008, he made a $1,000 donation to California Proposition 8. The website OKCupid, and others, called for a boycott of Mozilla. After Mr. Eich resigned, he said that “under the present circumstances, I cannot be an effective leader.” After Eich’s resignation, the National Organization for Marriage called for its own boycott of Mozilla.